Summertime Blues
by BluePotterFan24
Summary: no wings Max moves to California when she was 12. now 16, and having to go through another whole summer wiht her annoying neighbor Fang normal  but during this summer she starts to see him differntly. the summary isn't great, but the story will be better!
1. Chapter 1

_**Summertime Blues Chapter 1.**_

_**A/N: okay, so this is my new story. Basically it's normal, no-wings Max, who moves to a new state and meets her annoying next door neighbor (Fang, also normal), and is reaaaallllly not looking forward to another summer being next to him all the time. But over the summer something happens and she starts seeing him in a different way... check it out! It's a lot better than the summary! Thanks ValentineRose28 for indirectly giving me this idea!**_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!

CLAIMER: I DO OWN THIS PLOT AND THE SODA I AM DRINKING RIGHT NOW:) NOW, ON WITH THE STORY!

I knew I should have been trying to stay awake, but Mr. Barnes' science lecture was so boring, I couldn't help falling asleep...

***Flashback* 4 years ago**

**"Moving! Mom we can't move! Summer just started and I have so many plans!"**

**"Sweetheart, your only twelve, you can't have plans for the whole summer yet. Besides Max, this is the easiest time to move! It will be better to do it now than in the middle of the school year."**

**"But I don't want to move! I don't know anyone there, and I like our house, my friends, and my school. Where are we going anyway?"**

**"Los Angeles."**

**"Aw Momma! All the way in California? We will hardly ever be able to come back and visit. Why do we have to go? Can't you just leave me here?" I looked at her with my bambi eyes, but that hadn't worked since I was seven.**

**"No, Max. I can't just leave you here." She gave me sort of a half smile. "And I already told you, your father got a new job at a local hospital there. It will be better for all of us. Plus we will be closer to your brother, Iggy, now that he lives in Hollywood working on that big part he landed in a new movie. That will be cool, right?" She could obviously tell by my expression that I didn't find it as cool as she did, so she tried again. "Anyway, I'm sure you will make lots of new friends once we get there. But we only have two months to pack up and move, and no, refusing to pack isn't going to stop you from going with us. Now hurry up and get your homework done, it's your last week of school and you don't want to mess up your grades before your report card comes out."**

My head dropped lower and lower as I was dozing off. Mr. Barnes was saying something about photosynthesis...

***Another flashback, 2 and a half months later than the first***

**"Welcome do your new home, Max!" My dad was all too excited about us moving here. We had just finished the loooong drive all the way from Boise, Idaho to our new "home" in L.A. You couldn't really call it a home. Small and crowded is more like it. It was a small house, the smallest on the street, which it didn't help that it was right next to the largest on the street. In that house, I saw a curtain move behind a window, and I saw a boy about my age looking right at me through the glass...**

***Flashback ends***

For some reason I always remember those two days every year on the 20th of May. Probably that was the day I found out I was moving to L.A., where I still am four years later.

"Maxi, Maxi, wake up Maximillion!" I was awakened from my little blast of the past by that voice. That annoying voice that taunts and mocks me every chance it gets. I already knew who it was without looking. How could I forget where that deep, husky voice came from, forever teasing me. At this moment, however, I was grateful to it. Mr. Barnes was just giving out the homework assignment, and the bell was about to ring. I didn't want to be late because I slept through the bell...again.

"Maxi, did you hear me? Wake up!" The voice again. The only reason he called me Maxi was because I hated it. Just like I hated him, and the voice.

"Maxi, Maxi, MAXY!" It yelled in my ear, well, as close to yelling as you can get while whispering. I always tried to ignore it, so that it would quit and move on. But no, it never worked. And I knew it couldn't go on much longer. "Don't be angry Max, he wants you to get angry," I thought. But how could it not make me angry, while I have withstood 4 years of humiliation and mockery in a place I didn't want to be in? The voice never let up, not in classes, the hallways, during the summer.

I felt the thud of someone kicking my chair, and I wouldn't stay quiet anymore. I whirled around in my chair and growled, "what do you want, Fang."

I couldn't stand the smirk on his face, the face I had seen in the window that day I arrived, the face that produced the mocking voice, the face that I hated and I knew I knew I couldn't stand to look at for a whole other summer, knowing he had succeeded in getting on my nerves once again.

**AN: okay, I know this chapter isn't great, but it will get better through the rest of the story! I hope you like it please review! Thanks again ValentineRose28!**


	2. Author's note

A/N: Hey I am so glad that you like my new story! I'm not going to be able to update for the next few days(sorry) so don't get mad because I haven't updated . Thanks so much for reading. Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summertime Blues: chapter 2**

**A/N: Sorry it has been awhile! I know this isn't great, but it's just filling for now until the next chapter. It is kind of short too. Please review anyway!**

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!**_

_**CLAIMER: I DO OWN THIS PLOT! (and this clever title I came up with...jk:)**_

"What do you want," I said again, hoping to take the smile off his face. It's like his whole mission in life was to make mine miserable, to annoy me, but what had I ever done to him?

Ever since I had come here four years ago, I became his target. He wasn't a huge bully around the school or anything, but he had just taken an interest in bugging me. From the start he started shooting questions at me. "Who are you? Why did you move here? Where did you live before?" Normally they wouldn't have been annoying, he just wanted to know. I just didn't want to think about it and he kept reminding me. When I told him to lay off, he just kept at it.

Again, Fang brought me out of my little daze. "I just don't want you to get detention, Maxy. Again," he said sweetly. "I get lonely walking home when you stay after." His jet black eyes were blazing.

I could tell he was enjoying this. He had never gotten a day of detention in his life, and he loved mocking me for getting it because of _sleeping._

"You would just love that wouldn't you?" I wasn't sure what I was trying to say, just trying to make a comeback.

"What?" He actually looked confused. That made two of us.

"To meet me after school, maybe trip me on the way, asking thousands of personal questions that you know I don't want to answer, or make fun of me for sleeping in class today. All the things you usually come up with to piss me off."

Wow he actually looked kind of hurt with that one. His eyes didn't have that gleam in them anymore, and he wasn't smiling. "Score," I thought. I realized it made me sort of sad though, that he took it so seriously. It's the way our relationship works. He insults me, I insult him, e go back and forth but we don't try to take it to heart. Sure, it pisses me off , but I wouldn't take it like that. ugh, I hate having to be the good guy.

"Sorry," I muttered. I didn't want to go into three long months of summer with him all mad at me.

"Really?" he asked, that smirk returning.

"Yea, sure." Aw God. I hope he didn't go into a "what for" conversation like my parents do. I didn't want to go into a heart to heart with this kid.

"S'okay." he paused. "This is a really good day for you."

"Whatya mean?" Was he being... nice?

A huge smile broke out. "I can see the headlines now: Maximillion actually apologizes to her harassing, egotistical neighbor!" using a name that I had called him last week. I threw my notebook at him, but he dodged it and started to run, laughing all the way. I started chasing him, and totally forgot about my writing journal. I kept all of my original stories in there, until I got home and thought about it. I started to go out and get it, but a thunderstorm and just came up out of nowhere and thunder scared the pee outta me. I looked out my window, knowing that all of my stories would be ruined...

**A/N: again, I know it's short! I will try to update more often from now on, but I'm sorry if I have to go away for awhile. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. authors note3

**A/N: I am sooooo sorry I haven't been able to update! I could never get on the computer long enough to type up any chapters. I'll try to update really soon though, hopefully within the next three days. I'm sorry and I hope you still want to read my stories even though it has been so long.**


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!**

**A/N: Once again, I am so sorry to update! To Always Watching, this one is in Fang's POV. Thanks! It helped give me an idea for the rest of the story. Sorry these chapters have been kind of short, I will try to make the rest longer, I hope you like it!**

FANG'S POV

"Hey Mom, I'm home!" he said, as he walked through the door, dripping wet. His legs burned from running all the way home away from Max. "Crap," he thought, rubbing his sore leg, "she's fun to mess with and all, but when she gets mad she sure goes the whole nine yards."

"Hi Nick!" His older sister came bounding down the stairs. She took a glance at her younger brother. "Wow Nick, did you fall in the neighbor's pool or something?" He pointed up so she would listen for the rain pouring on their roof. "Oh, my bad. Anyway, white skirt, or blue?" she asked, holding them both up for him to look at.

"Like I care what you wear, especially when your with Ryan. Why do you like that jerk anyway? And stop calling me Nick! You know I go by Fang now."

"What are you, a vampire? Whatever, I gotta go!" she said hearing a horn beep outside. "That's Ryan!" She grabbed an umbrella and hopped out the door.

"Mom, how come Sarah can go out on a school night, and I can't?"

"Babe, it's a study date. Now go dry off before you get sick! Your dad is coming home next week for a few days and you don't want to be stuck in bed."

"Most annoying sister ever" he mumbled. He ran upstairs to change into warmer clothes.

There was another loud thunder clap. That made him think of Max, how she had freaked out two years ago when he had talked about a storm that was working its way towards L.A. He laughed out loud as he was thinking about it, but then he stopped.

Was that what Max thought of him? Most annoying neighbor ever? He didn't want that. Messing around with her was totally okay with him, especially because she teased him back. But hurting her was a whole other thing. Her comment earlier on the walk back home had actually made him think. "Do I really do that stuff all the time?" or worse, "Does she hate me for it?"

Maybe _had _gone too far with the names and falling asleep in class. He could tell when she was upset, and pretty much refrained from teasing her at the time so that she wouldn't get too pissed at him. He couldn't figure out why she was so mad at him all the time.

"Jeez," he said while rubbing his head, "Why do girls have to be so sensative?"

Was it the first day she moved here? At that time he had been curious about her. No one had moved in or out of his particular neighborhood in a long time. She had caught him staring out his window, watching her, as she unpacked her stuff. That's why he went out to talk to her.

"Hey! What's your name?" he had asked.

"Max. Yours?"

"Call me Fang." He had offered to help her unpack. He wanted to get to know her better, but every time he asked her a new question she seemed to get more and more annoyed. Finally, "Just leave me alone okay? Lay off." That was the end of the three hours in which they got along.

After that, insults had gone back and forth between them like bullets. There were always nicknames, jokes, and sarcasm aimed at each other. Huge verbal wars broke out between them once in awhile, and this had been going on for four years.

"I never actually meant for her to take it personally. Crap."

"Nick? Come in here for a second please." His mom was calling him from the den. He walked in and she was reading an article in the Newspaper.

"'Sup?"

"Do you remember that doctor that fixed my leg after that car accident, about three years ago?"

"um, no."

"Oh, well his name is Jeb Batchedler, he's a really nice man, with a lot of friends apparently. This is so sad. It says here that he was diagnosed today with pancreatic cancer. It must be so hard for him and his family."

Fang was listening to all of this, but at the same time he was thinking about the name. "Batchedler, where have I heard that last name before?" He couldn't think of anyone , so he left the room and went back upstairs to do his homework. He couldn't concentrate though, his train of thought kept getting interrupted by thoughts of Max. He felt bad now for all the things he had done to her in the past. The pudding filled balloons, the prank calls, hurtful notes, the endless mocking.

He had spent two hours thinking of her, and all of the things she did back to him. She was sort of violent, for one thing. He laughed at all the times she had hit, kicked, and thrown stuff at him. Like that one time he remembered, the first two weeks of school had elapsed when he stole her writing journal. She had started to through rocks, books, anything she could lay her hands on flew towards his body. He had never messed with that notebook again.

The notebook.

She had thrown it at him, then chased him all the way home and never picked it up. Obviously it meant a lot to her, remembering the vicious attack. Fang looked out the window into the pouring rain, watching lightning streak across the sky. There is no way she would go out into that storm to go get it. "Which means it's still out there. Hmmm..." he said out loud.

He had made up his mind. He went searching for his boots inside of his closet and put on his rain jacket. He took the stairs two at a time, grabbed an umbrella, and quietly snuck out the door...

MAX'S POV

I sat and cried in my room. All of the stories, poems filled with emotions that I had written in that journal would be ruined by the rain. I knew I would never be able to write them again. Just then, my mom entered the room, her eyes red like she had been crying.

"Max, I need to tell you something..."

**A/N: Okay, I know it isn't the best chapter, but it's going to get better. I am probably going to start alternating whose point of view each chapter is in, but I might end up doing two or three in a row every now and then. Please review! (and could I get a few more please before I update again? I really want to know what you all think about it :)**


	6. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Summertime Blues.**_

**A/N**: **Omigosh I am so sorry it took so long to update this, and I'm kinda upset with myself for it. For a week I was at a total blank for this chapter, then I got busy with school and family issues, etc., and then I totally lost the part of this chapter I had already written so I had to start over. Anyway, for those of you who said that you wanted to know what is in Max's notebook, there is some in here and there probably be more in other chapters. Like I said I'm going to switch off POV's, but this one is mostly in Fang's. Anyway I hope you like it even though it took me freaking forever. please review!**

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!**_

_**CLAIMER: I DO HOWEVER, OWN THIS PLOT AND THE POEM CONTAINED IN THIS CHAPTER!**_

**Max's POV.**

"Damn" I muttered, kicking at the leaves one last time. "It's gone."

I had been up since 5 a.m., two hours before I needed to wake up and get ready for school. The thunderstorm rolled in as soon as I had gotten home, and I'm terrified of thunderstorms. And I had left my notebook outside to be ruined by the wind and the rain.

I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes, but I wouldn't let them go any further. "No," I thought to myself, "you've spent four years building a wall, don't screw it up now."

Anger swelled up inside me as I began to remember all of the times people had stolen it, hidden it, and then mocked my desperation to get it back. "It's just a notebook" they said. Well it wasn't.

For the first two years of being here, I didn't have that notebook. I cut instead.

I shuddered as I remembered the blood forming crimson puddles by my legs, the wave of blackness at the loss, the silver blade in my hand, and the look of fear in my eyes the first time. After that it became routine. Nobody even noticed. I had gone to school, my arms wrapped in bandages, and no one even asked. I figured it was because nobody cared.

The notebook is what got me to quit. I had never shown anyone the stories that I write, and I always try to keep a cool, brush it off attitude at school. I can even remember the first thing I wrote. _"Alone in this world..."_

**Fang's POV- Last night**

"I can't believe it took me two hours to find it," Fang thought to himself. It had taken him two hours just to find where the notebook had gone. It had rained really hard, and apparently the wind blew a lot too. The book had blown at least one hundred feet from where Max had thrown it at him.

Then of course, he had to find some way to sneak back into his house, since it was way past his curfew. He trekked back up the road to his home, trying unsuccessfully to keep the notebook from getting even wetter (if that was even possible.)

So Fang now sat at the kitchen table, staring at the cover of Max's journal. This is what it said:

**Property of Max**

**!****KEEP OUT****!**

**"**Now under normal circumstances, I would heed that warning," he said with a grin, "but I have to dry off these pages, which makes not looking impossible."

Fang took his mom's blow dryer and put it on the lowest possible level so that it wouldn't wake her up. While he was extremely curious as to what sort of things she wrote, he did kind of want to respect her privacy. Besides, if she ever found out he had read anything... he winced at the thought. So he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't read anything... with the exception of the first page.

He made sure that all of the pages were completely dry so that none would rip, and surprisingly, none of the ink had run. His quick glances at the pages told him that most were poems or stories, and some even had multiple chapters. However, when he turned to the first page it wasn't the kind he expected. This was the title; Alone.

Alone  by Max

Alone in this world, won't dare show her face

Never to realize or find her true place

Emotions, the feelings she will not describe

Pain, heart, and tears concealed inside.

Somewhere she thrives, but does not really live

Memories of times that can never forgive

Vulnerable, as no one could ever understands

One who angers and saddens like no one else can.

The Pain in the scars is less than the heart,

alone, and unloved, in a world that is dark

The truth and the lies are mingled in space,

Knowing that many are told to her face.

Living a life that wants her to change

A life that makes her feel unwanted and strange.

Afraid of a future in which there's no love

and always being compared to others above.

Alone in this world, won't dare show her face

Leaving behind no sound, thought, or trace.

Emotions and pain hide behind skin and bone

Dark world with no light, so cold and alone.

For awhile, he just sat there, staring down at what he had just read. He glanced at the date in the bottom corner, and saw that it was dated exactly two years from the day she had moved there. Slowly, he read it again, and that's when he started to notice some things about it that he hadn't the first time.

Every place that it said "she," was evidence that a different word had been used at first and then erased. It looked like the word was almost always "me," "my," or "I". "kinda weird" Fang muttered, then he read on.

Was this the same Max that had messed with him for almost four years? She never showed emotion, "except maybe anger," he thought. It didn't seem like the same girl that had lived next door for so long, but it was her handwriting on the page.

Then another thing Fang noticed, was that his name had been crossed out where "one who" was written next to it. That wasn't good. The last thing that caught his eye was the word "scars". Scars. As in _cutting._ His mind race back to over two years, when she had come to school pale and with gauze taped on her wrists. Not just once, but multiple times. She had been cutting, no one even noticed, and it looked like it was because of him. 

**Flash forward, this morning, still Fang's POV **

"Fang! Wake up you're going to be late for school!"

Fang sat up so fast he swore. He held his head as he got dressed and looked in the mirror. He looked terrible, like he had been sleeping on a rock. There were deep purple circles under his eyes, and he felt like his feet were tied to bricks. The night before he stayed up at least another hour after drying the notebook, breaking his promise to not read past the first page.

He sped through breakfast, while packing his bag at the same time. He went out the door, yelling goodbye over his shoulder.

Seeing that Max hadn't waited today to walk to school with him, Fang started on his way, having left the notebook behind.

A/N: Again sorry it took so long to get this posted. I hope you like it:) By the way, I'm working on a new story, it's not posted yet, but once it is please check it out!


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow...this is just so late being updated, I don't even know why it took this long. I mean I guess Christmas, and school, and Odyssey, bunch of stuff. Anyway, here's this chapter, and I think I'm going to get a few more up before break ends. Thanks for reading and your reviews!**

**Jaggedwing-moonstreak: Yes I did write the poem, I'm glad you like it! Poetry was kind of my thing (and still is a bit) before I started writing on fanfiction.**

**Enjoy the rest of the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!**

_**Chapter 5, Summertime Blues.**_

Max's POV

Was I mad? Yea, I was mad, but at who? Fang? Myself?

"And then my dad... Last night my parents told me that he has cancer. I don't know what to do." I was talking to my best friend, Ella on the phone. We tell each other everything and she always seemed to understand me. Before, I had been going on nonstop about Fang, then I got to this.

There was a pause, and for a second I thought she had hung up on me. "Um...Ella?"

"Yea I'm here. I'm just..trying to think of a way to respond, you know? I'm really, really sorry about your dad, Max. But I don't know what else to say. Fang though, I have some thoughts about. If you want to hear them, I'll tell you, but you Have to listen and not get mad at me for it. It's just what I think, okay?"

"Okay, shoot," I said. That's another thing about Ella, she's painfully honest.

"I think you like him"

She also doesn't waste time beating around the bush.

"Whaaaaaaat?" I stammered into the phone. But she wasn't finished yet.

"And I think he likes you back"

***PAGE BREAK!***

Fang's POV

The day went by just like the rest of them always had: English, speech, Latin, Math, world history, lunch, Theatre, and then last period science, everyday. There was only one thing different, and that thing was Max. She wasn't loud, or annoying, or obnoxious like she usually was. Actually, it was just the opposite.

Every time Fang looked for Max in the hallway or caught her eye in class, she made it a point to turn away from him.

But he understood her better now. There were some things in that book of hers that were way too deep for him, and sometimes he thought they were too deep for her. Now he could figure out how much she faked; smiling, laughing, or otherwise. He was also noticing things he didn't before. Like how dedicated she could be to avoiding him.

Until now anyways.

The science teacher was calling attendance.

"James Arborne?"

"Here"

"Billy Aster?"

"Here"

"Max Batchedler?"

Fang froze in the middle of sharpening his pencil. "Aw crap," he thought, "Jeb's her stepdad, I totally forgot. He has cancer and I didn't even say anything to her." He mentally kicked himself.

"Nick Martinez?"

That was the third time the teacher had called his name. He quickly tried to say "here", but it came out sounding more like a croak. For the whole forty-five minute period, he couldn't concentrate. When the bell rang, signifying the end of the school year, Fang jumped out of his seat determined to catch up with Max no matter how many times she tried to avoid him. He finally caught her arm outside the bathrooms and pulled her aside.

"Hey, listen, Max, I'm so-"

"Save it Fang, I don't want to talk to you. Or anyone." she said, then tried to shoulder past him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"No this is important, I'm sorry."

"Okay, noted. Are we done here?"

"No", he drew in a breath. "About everything. Always pissing you off, and the notebook, an-"

She cut him off again. "What do you know about that book?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, you didn't go get it in that storm after throwing it at me, did you?" She shrugged.

He continued. "And it really sucks about your dad. He's a great guy you know? He fixed up my mom, and that first summer the three of us would always throw a football whenever we were actually nice to each other...I mean...I guess, sorry.

When Fang finally looked up at her face it was so amusing he almost laughed out loud. She looked so confused, and was giving him a look that said " what the hell, you're insane", which is kind of how he felt anyway.

She finally spoke, "umm..thanks. I think. Where did all that come from?'

He half smiled. "Max, it's the last day of school. And believe it or not I don't like being mad at my neighbor all summer." With that he walked away, Max watching him leave with bewilderment on her face.

***PAGE BREAK!***

Max's POV

"...and that first summer the three of us would always throw the football whenever we were actually nice to each other...I mean, ..I guess, sorry."

Okay, I hadn't really listened to what he was saying until he mentioned my notebook. Or cared, for that matter. After that, though, I paid attention and figured out one thing. I didn't know who this was, but it wasn't Fang.

It took me a second for my brain to register that he was waiting for me to say something. "umm..thanks. I think. Where did all that come from?"

He gave me sort of a half smile. "Max, it's the last day of school. And believe it or not I don't like being mad at my neighbor all summer." Then he turned and walked away, leaving me just staring after him. I stood there for awhile, trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Eventually I packed up my stuff and walked out the door of the school. It was officially the start of a summer I would never forget.

**A/N: okay, that was kind of a weird ending. But oh well! Now comes the main part of the story, these first five chapters were (kind of) an introduction. Thanks for reading, please review!**


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Summertime Blues.**

**A/N: So, I know everyone reading this right now hates me, because I haven't updated this in FOREVER. But before the angry mob shows up at my door to tie me up and carry me away, I'd like to give a shout out to serenaisbestezrq387 (interesting screen name, btw) for 1, bringing to my attention the fact that I haven't updated in *cringe* 6 months (so sorry, been busy, lame excuse right?) and 2, for reviewing every chapter. Lol I LOVE that! Anyway, what few readers I have that haven't totally forgotten about this story, I hope you like it**

Max's POV

If there is one thing that's great about moving to California, it's the weather.

It's not too cold in the winter, not too hot in the summer. Right now it's in the upper 70s, and it feels fantastic.

On Monday morning, I woke up ready for the first day of summer at 12:17 p.m. Most teachers think that the first day of summer is Saturday, the day right after the last day of school, but it's not. The real first day of summer is the Monday after, because it is the first weekday of freedom from school.

Anyway, at 12:17 I woke up. A few minutes later, I showered until my mom yelled up to me that she was leaving and for me to "save some water for the neighbors." I threw on my purple tank top, jean shorts, and my favorite pair of flip flops before leaving to go to my favorite place to go in the summer, Star Lake. No one knows about it or knows that I go there, not even Ella.

Going at this pace, I was ready to go at 1:02.

It is now 2:24, and I still haven't left my house.

Why? Because Fang has been outside for the past hour with his cousin Damon. They are playing basketball. I'm determined to NOT talk to Fang all summer, and how am I supposed to leave while I'm supposed to be ignoring him and he's right outside? It's only been three days since school ended, no way am I going to last 3 months without being able to leave my house.

2:26. I check out the window, and they're still there. This is about the 20th time that I had checked in the past half hour, and He's already caught me watching. Twice.

I'm more careful now peeking out from behind the curtain. I'm glad Ella isn't here though; she'd accuse me of stalking.

I watched them play for a few minutes, mainly because neither of them were looking my way. Fang just shot and made a three pointer (not that I know anything about basketball), and based on the score they were keeping with chalk on the pavement, that put him ahead of Damon. Their faces looked red from playing in the sun. By now they were both damp with sweat, their shirts and hair sticking to their skin. There was something oddly. . . alluring about the way Fang had to keep flipping his coal black hair out of his eyes every few minutes.

"Stop it" I thought while I mentally kicked myself. I dropped the curtain, wondering what I was going to do. I still didn't have my notebook, and my mom would be staying with my dad at the hospital until tomorrow. Instead I dug through my drawer and found my sketch pad, and began looking for something to draw.

There was absolutely nothing in my room. I never really did like making drawings of inanimate objects or things that aren't alive. They don't have character, unless the image has a background story. Art is about capturing the moment. You can't find that in doors or beds or shoes.

I glanced out the window (again) hoping there would be something interesting outside. When I looked out my eyes landed on Fang, who was now shirtless. He was bent over, gasping for breath and laughing like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. He had a lopsided grin on his face threatening to break in to a full-fledged smile. I picked up my pencil and began to draw.

Fang's POV

I glanced up at her window. The curtain moved. She had been watching. Again.

Damon stopped the game and turned to see what I was looking at.

"Dude, what's her deal? Does she like you or something?" he asked me.

I doubled over laughing at that. "No, definitely not. The exact opposite. She can't stand me, hates my guts."

"Then why is she spying on us?"

"Hell if I know."

"Well what about you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you like her?"

Did I?

"No", I said. But Damon had seen me hesitate.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. I hate it when he does that. It can imply anything. . . . So annoying.

I shot him a look but before we could get into any further argument, Damon's mom appeared at the door.

"Damon, c'mon let's go!"

He gave me one last look before he got in the car. "Bye cuz. Good luck", he said as he glanced back up at her window. Then he was gone, and I walked back into the house.

Max's POV

I had finished drawing.

I sat on my bed, stared at the wall, stared at the ceiling and back at the wall, all the while listening to Hollywood Undead screaming through my earphones. Even then I still heard a car door slam.

I walked back to my window and looked out for about the nth time today. Fang was standing at the doorway, (fully clothed once more), waving goodbye to his cousin. After his aunt turned the corner, he went back inside.

"Finally!" I yelled, way more audibly than I intended. I grabbed my bag which was now fully equipped with granola bars, Gatorade, swimsuit, sketch pad, pencils, towel, iPod, and cell phone. I had had a lot of time to pack.

I dashed out the door way later than I had planned, and set off towards my own personal summer hideout.

**PAGEBREAK**

Four years ago, I discovered Star Lake.

My house is about 4 ½ blocks from Sand Dollar Park. The name is kind of weird, seeing as there isn't any sign of a beach, unless you count the sand box for the little kids to play in. It's a small park; not many people know about it.

On my first day here in California, I really needed to clear my head. I went walking, sketch pad in hand, hoping I'd find something to draw. I always lose myself in my work; it didn't matter if it was stories, poems, or drawings. Like I said, I don't really like drawing still lifes, unless the have a story or are trees or something that is alive but motionless.

So I went out walking, clueless as to where I was going. I find the park and cut across it, it's a nice park that has trees and woods in the back with a stream and a little bridge that goes over it. The bridge takes you into the woods beyond the park, where there are a couple of hiking trails. I'm a nature freak (even though I might die without my music or my cell phone) so I crossed the bridge. The woods stretch for a few hundred yards away from the park, but you can only go about fifty. It's impossible to go any further because of a very steep and very long ditch that reaches left to right. The sides are blocked off with high wire fences, and the tops are covered in barbed wire. (I know right? Paranoid much?)

As I reached the ditch, the first thing I noticed was a massive tree in the middle of the path. While gazing at the giant trunk, I noticed a barely perceptible arrow carved into the bark. I immediately began to search for a way up.

Circling the tree was not easy. Part of it was only inches from the edge of the ditch. However, this is where I found the ladder. There were a series of wooden boards nailed to the tree to act as rungs. I began to climb, and when I got to the first cluster of branches, the rungs stopped. There was another carved arrow pointing around the tree, at which point I found another ladder. This one was an actual ladder though, one of those thick rope ones that don't look sturdy but really are. Since it was still summer, no leaves had fallen at all, so I couldn't see where it led. At some point the branches just stopped and they were replaced by the wooden floorboards of a small tree house. A note was wedged inside a crack in the wall. This is what it said

*_Dear finder,_

_Congratulations! If you have opened this note, then you have completed half the steps needed to find my secret niche. When I was 17, I really wanted to know what was on the other side of that ditch down there. I had recently had a bad break up and my father had been killed in a car crash that same year. This ditch gave me a project to work on. I built the tree house, the makeshift bridge, and the ladders on both sides. When I first saw what was on the other side, I wanted to share it with someone. I met a girl two months later who I fell head over heels for. 3 years later I married her and we decided to move, so I wrote this note and stuck it here, hoping that someone else would someday find it. Please put the note back where you found it, so that someone else might read it as well. I hope star lake will work the same magic for you as it has for me._

_-Jeremy_

_p.s. If you have trouble finding it, follow the arrows that I carved in the trees._

At first I thought the note was fake, like some kind of stupid prank (and yes, I know some people who would go to all that trouble to pull a prank on someone, sad right?) It seemed too surreal, and it kind of reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book that I had read once. (Reality, Isn't he awesome? Okay, back to story….go!) But when I looked around, I saw some planks nailed onto branches to create a (sort or) bridge across the ditch. The trees had obviously been there a long time because the branches were all twisted and crossed over each other. That's how the bridge was hidden from anyone looking up.

So I crossed this bridge and climbed down the neighboring tree. There really were arrows carved in some of the trees that showed me where to go. Then all of a sudden there were no trees anymore except for a single one on top of a hill some yards away.

This tree was much easier to climb. There was a giant, low branch with a fork in it that two people could easily sit on together. The view, though, was the amazing part. There were a few small hills surrounding a lake (I was on one of them) which was a perfect reflection of the sky. I didn't even know anything like that could be near where I lived. There was another note hidden in a knothole.

*_Dear Finder_

_You have made it to Star Lake. Come at night to find out how I named it._

_-J_

**PAGE BREAK**

I'm sitting in the same spot as I was that night, sketch pad in hand. Whenever I need to clear my head, I come here, because there is always something to write about or draw. The reason its name is Star Lake is because at night if there is a clear sky, you can see every star reflecting off the pond. I think about that first night I moved here, now, as I'm packing up to leave. I don't know what kind of magic it's supposed to have, but I'm hoping it will work it for me.

**A/N: cornier than Nebraska right? (Just like that joke) anyway, it was kind of a pointless chapter, but it makes sense later. I promise. Again, sorry it's been so long. But now it's summer, so I should have more time, (at least until July when I won't have a computer) so yay! Hey, and I know a bunch of people are probably mad at me for not updating, but could I get a few reviews for this pleezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz? Thanks!**


	9. important author's note

**A/N: okay so two reasons why I haven't been updating very recently, 1 I lost my chapters, 2 I am heading to New York tomorrow and won't have a computer so I didn't want to really set up something that I wouldn't be able to continue for a month. I'm going to be gone for three and 1/2 weeks so I won't be able to update (sorry!) But when I get back I am going to put up a new story and get up another 1 or 2 chapters of summertime blues. Sorry I won't be around to type! **

**-BluePotterFan24**


	10. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Summertime Blues**

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!

I can't believe school is starting so soon! gahhhhhh! so not ready for high school! oh well! here's the new chapter. Oh! and thanks for being so patient while I was in New York! It was an awesome trip! NOW here it is.

Max's POV

So my dad got home today. He's on his third round of chemotherapy, and although his hair has already fallen out, he hasn't really gotten sick from the drugs. If anything, I'm just really glad he's home.

Unfortunately, today is the only day that I get to see him this week. Ella and I pick out one week in the summer when one of us will stay at the other's house. It started in first grade, when Ella and I wanted to pretend like we were sisters. I asked my mom if she could spend the week at our house to see what it would be like to have a sister (actually, Ella already knew; she has twin little sisters Quinn and Kayla, so really I just wanted to know) We started to alternate houses and do it every year, and now it's a tradition between us.

This year is my turn to go to Ella's house. Even though I always look forward to the week we spend together, I am a little, okay a lot, bummed that I won't see my dad this week. I offered to stay home about ten times, but he knows that this is the last full week Ella will be in town. He said it would make him feel better if knows that I'm having a good time with Ella and her family. So now, I wait at the door all packed and ready to be picked up.

5 hours and 32 minutes later. . . . . . . . .

My arms and legs are being pinned to the floor while Ella is forcing a pound of makeup onto my face.

I love Ella to death, but she and her sisters are three of the most girly people I know. I am not girly. I hardly ever wear makeup, except for a little mascara every now and then. My nails are usually bitten, not painted. On a scale of one to ten on my knowledge of "accessories" is negative four, and to me, dressing up is wearing a fitted t-shirt with a pair of clean jeans without holes in them. My shorts never go above my knees, bikinis are out of the question, and if you ever see me wearing a dress, it's probably because I was forced into it as some sort of punishment.

Ella knows all this, and she is DYING to see me wear a "reasonable" amount of makeup. Her definition of reasonable is all the normal stuff people wear, plus like, twenty things I've never even heard of. Holy crap.

So every time we have this sleepover, I'm either at her house or she brings her car-sized makeup kit to mine, and she tries to force a gallon of powders and creams onto my face. Usually it doesn't work, because I am stronger than she is. When it's one on one, anyway.

This time, though, she recruited her little sisters to pin down my arms. So unfair right?

So all day I had seen her giant makeup carrier in the corner of her room, and warning lights went off in my head. She always keeps it in the bathroom. I was eying it the whole time. Later, she invited her sisters to hang out with us, while she usually tells them to "get lost we are talking about important stuff!" (at which point she launches into a story about her latest boyfriend and all of his pros and cons)

So when I asked her what was up, she just said, (with an evil look in her eye, I might add) "nothing! don't worry about it, everything will be fun!" which of course, made me worry about it even more.

I really should have seen it coming when Quinn and Kayla moved so they were standing behind me. Because as soon as Ella screamed, "Now!" they were on top of me and she was already pulling out three different shades of eye shadow.

As soon as they finally finish and let me go, I rush to the bathroom before they decide to put curlers in my hair or something like that.

I risk a glance at the mirror . I gasp, stare at myself for about thirty seconds straight, then burst out laughing. Seriously, I'm sinking to the floor because I can't even hold myself up; I'm breathing so hard I'm starting to have a coughing fit. Ella comes rushing into the bathroom and sees tears streaming down my face. "OMG are you okay?" I nod, but I still can't stop giggling. After about two more minutes of that, with Ella's horrified expression staring me in the face. I finally calm down. I wipe water away from my eyes and start to breathe normally again. Once Ella sees that I'm okay, her face lights up.

"Do you love it?", she squeals.

"Ha! As if! I look like a freaking Barbie doll! How do I get this stuff OFF of me?"

She hands me makeup removal wipes, but ONLY after she took a picture on her new Kodak camera.

"If that shows up on facebook, when you go to sleep I will be under your bed."

Ha, that wiped the evil grin off her face.

So concludes my first night of tortureImeanfun at Ella's house.

Fang's POV

I checked my watch. 9:22. It had only been 52 minutes, but it felt like hours where I was lying.

I had found this place four years ago. I was walking in Sand Dollar Park, (dumbest name ever, since the only sand in the place is in the puny sand box for five year olds) There were these woods on the edge of the park where I always like to walk. In the woods there is a huge ditch along with fences guarding the edges. I'd always wanted to go across and see what was there. That day, I noticed that the branches of two of the trees (one on each side) overlapped. I was circling this massive tree (kinda difficult with the fence in the way) and then I found these wooden boards nailed to a tree.

I climbed up into this tree house that someone had built, and there were some planks nailed across the branches that I had noticed earlier. So I went across (thank God I'm not afraid of heights) and climbed down another ladder on the opposite tree, and kept walking further into the woods.

I was walking for about three minutes, when suddenly the trees just ended. There was a single tree on a hill some yards ahead of me, with really low and really thick branches that multiple people could sit on. When I got to the tree there was a note stuck in a knothole from some guy named Jeremy, telling me I'd made it to "Star Lake Valley" It said to come at night to see where it got the name from.

The tree on the hill was overlooking a valley with a lake in the middle. At night when I came back, I saw the stars perfectly reflected on the surface of the lake. That's where I am now, with a flashlight, staring at Max's notebook.

A/N: tada! the end! please review!


	11. author's note so sorry

**A/N: There is something I want to say to everybody who reads my stories or who has before and is exceedingly pissed at me for the lack of updates. First of all, if any of you still manage to have any small feelings about my writing that doesn't happen to be hate, feel free to check out my second profile. I originally created it so that one of my friends who reads/writes on here wouldn't know who I was and make me nervous, but she figured it out. It's called ShadowRose2184. There's a message behind it. Read the poem, PM me to see if you get it. Second of all, here's the thing. I love writing, let's get that cleared up first. That has never changed. But the reason that I started this particular story is because I needed to express stuff that I wouldn't talk to other people about. When I moved from my hometown almost four years ago I felt like I had nothing anymore, and thought about how the "perfect summer with the boy I used to not be able to stand but now love" would make it all worth it. But now I have stuff that makes the move worth it. I am part of my school's softball team, and TROUPE ( a theatre group) which allows me to just be myself and act in front of people without them judging me. I don't NEED writing for this story for it's original purpose because I don't always feel the same emotions any more. I've had a boyfriend, and know that it isn't all the fairytale crap I was planning on writing and didn't realize until now. I am busy with other things that I love that require a lot of time, and I'm sorry for not updating as often as I'd like, but I'm not giving up on everything. I didn't make promises saying that I would update every week or even every month; I knew it was going to take some time. So please, be patient. I'm trying to make time, I really am. I am working on more chapters for this story now, but when they will be posted I can't stay. I really appreciate you staying with me all this time. Thank you so much.**

**Love,**

** BluePotterFan24**


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